Space Needs
Civil engineering faculty, graduate students, and research are housed primarily in the Harbert Engineering Center. In addition, there is an environmental engineering research lab in Wilmore and an environmental research and teaching lab in Ramsay Hall. Harbert has offices for 21 faculty, and there is a total of approximately 70 office spaces for civil engineering graduate students on campus. Half of these are in the Aerospace Engineering Building.
Harbert is an excellent facility, but it is not large enough for an active group of 27 civil engineering faculty along with the associated research and graduate students. Additional offices will be required for six faculty and approximately 70 graduate students. Laboratory space and equipment will be required for the growth in the research programs of these new faculty and additional graduate students. The specialty areas most likely to need additional research laboratory space as a result of adding faculty are the environmental, geotechnical and hydraulics/hydrology areas.
Recent growth in research made it necessary to convert the laboratory space used for the hydraulics lab into an environmental engineering research lab. Hence, there is a need for a space for an undergraduate hydraulics teaching lab. Ideally the space should also be compatible with the research needs of the hydraulics/hydrology faculty.
Civil engineering class sizes have grown significantly since the semester system conversion. Required undergraduate classes with 50 to 75 students are common. Classes of this size present challenges and require large, well equipped classrooms.
A problem in the college is that not all classrooms are equipped with similar technology such as blackboards, projectors, and document tables. Due to the many constraints on scheduling of classrooms, a faculty member usually teaches the same course in two or three different rooms over a period of a few years. The result is that the format of the teaching materials must be changed to fit the classroom. This discourages the use of advanced delivery systems and innovation in teaching. This problem can be solved by providing state-of-the-art equipment in all engineering classrooms.
Civil Engineering commonly uses Ramsay 314 for large classes. This is a large room with a high ceiling, but it has a flat floor and is poorly equipped. A major renovation of this space is needed to accommodate large design classes. A false, sloped floor and new seating should be added to make it easier for students to see the blackboard and screen. High quality audio-visual equipment should be added to provide the best possible environment for innovative teaching and enhanced student learning. Digital photographs and video are the quickest and most effective way to illustrate real world applications of engineering principles. An untapped resource that can greatly improve civil engineering teaching are the digital photos of construction projects and completed facilities that are taken everyday by alumni. However, projection equipment must be readily available before these images can be used in the classroom.
Another important space need is for undergraduate student competitions. The ASCE student chapter competes with other engineering schools each year in the concrete canoe contest. This yearly competition has been taking place for many years. In recent years, the students have started competing each year in the steel bridge contest. Each of these competitions require significant floor space, tools and equipment. As Civil Engineering's research programs grow, there is less and less space available for individual research projects and for use by student groups. A dedicated space for the ASCE student chapter competition teams is needed.
Specifically the following space is needed:
- Renovation of Ramsay 314
- 6 faculty offices
- 70 graduate student offices
- Environmental engineering research lab
- Geotechnical engineering research lab
- Hydraulics/hydrology research and undergraduate teaching lab
- ASCE student competition workspace
